Ball for ball valve

ABSTRACT

A hollow ball for a ball valve having opposite flow ports and an inwardly directed flange or lip located about the edges of each flow port, said lips or flanges being spaced by extending in a direction toward each other.

United States Patent Grenier 1 Sept. 5, 1972 [54] BALL FOR BALL VALVE [72] Inventor: Wilfred J. Grenier, Rutland,--Mass.

[73] Assignee: General Industries, Inc., Worcester, Mass.

[22] Filed: Oct. 8, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 79,060

[52] US. Cl. ..251/315 15] Int. Cl ..Fl6k'5/06 [58] Field of Search ..251/356, 315, 367, 311, 317,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,246,873 4/1966 Johnson ..251/356 3,367,359 2/1968 Johnson ..251/315 X 3,567,176 3/1971 Johnson ..251/315 X 3,588,042 6/1971 Yopp ..251/315 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,207,168 12/1965 Germany ..251/315 Primary Examiner-Samuel Scott Y Attomey-Charles R. Fay

[57] ABSTRACT A hollow ball for a ball valve having opposite flow ports and an inwardly directed flange or lip located about the edges of each flow port, said lips or flanges being spaced by extending in a direction toward each other.

7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures mimics" smz 3.'sa9;027

INVENTOR WILFRED J. GRENIER BY ag,

ATTORNEY BALL FOR BALL VALVE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It has been found that hollow balls for ball valves are difficult to machine, after having been formed, and it has also been found that in use hollow ball valves induce a turbulence in the flow of fluids therethrough and have a secondary nozzle effect at the downstream side, resulting in a restriction in the free flow of the fluids passing through the ball, the edges of the ports in some instances are not of sufficient strength when using sheet metal to form the balls and it is difficult to hold the balls on mandrels or fixtures when machining the exterior surfaces thereof. It is the general purpose of the present invention to overcome all of these difficulties by the provision of an inwardly directed lip or flange about the edges of each of the two ports of the hollow ball.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION undersize, that is the diameters of the ports are smaller than will appear in the finished ball. Then the metal at the rim of each of the ports is flowed inwardly, increasing the size of the port and providing a kind of a drawing action on the material of the ball, which forms in effect a flange or a lip completely surrounding the port and extending inwardly of the ball. This effectively increases the thickness of the edge of the ball at the port and also finishes the edges of the port to the diameter desired.

Thus there is provided a pair of flanges surrounding the ports and extending toward each other, the fluid controlled by the valve of the finished ball of course passing through the flange at the upstream side of the ball, through the hollow ball to the downstream side, reducing turbulence, eliminating the secondary nozzle effect described above while increasing the flow, and at the same time providing more material for supporting the ball while it is being machined, and also giving the ports a greater strength at the edges.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a sectional view through a ball on the sheet material;

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the ball after it has been drawn to form the lip or flanges; and

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view looking in the direction of arrow 3 in FIG. 2.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION A sheet metal ball is formed as shown in FIG. 1. Sheet metal balls may be formed in different ways but essentially this ball is a uniform section body 10 having ports 12 and 14 at diametrically opposite points thereon. The ball is symmetrical but is provided with a slot for the reception of the handle by which the ball is turned, and this slot is shown at 16, FIGS. 2 and 3.

It is to be understood that the showing in FIG. 1 is simply that of a spherical hollow ball of sheet metal with two opposite and equal ports 12 and 14, and this ball, with slot 16, may be used as a ball in a ball valve and turned the usual quarter turn to turn it on and off.

In the present invention, the drawing action is applied to the edges which are indicated at 18 and 20 of the two ports 12 and 14, drawing the metal inwardly of the ball to the FIG. 2 relationship where flanges 22 and 24 are shown as being formed inwardly of the ball at the edges of the ports 12 and 14, and the material of the ball at the edges of the original ports, which were undersized, are utilized to be drawn down in forming the flanges 22 and 24.

Flanges 22 and 24 extend from the extreme edges of the ball 26, see FIG. 2, to the inner edges of the flanges which are indicated at 28. Therefore the port is now greater in diameter than it was before and instead of having the relatively narrow edges indicated at 30 in FIG. 1, the flanges 22 and 24 provide the relatively wider edges which are indicated at 32, 32 in FIG. 2.

It will be clear that this provides for a better holding base for a fixture or mandrel for holding the ball while machining and polishing it as for instance in a lathe or grinding machine, and it has also been found that turbulence in the through flow of material from port 12 to port 14 for instance in FIG. 1 is reduced and in many cases eliminated by reason of the presence of the broad surfaces at 32, 32 which direct the flow of the fluids in a more controlled fashion. This in turn eliminates the secondary nozzle effect at the downstream port which was occasioned in the ball shown in FIG. 1 by the flow of the fluid, after it spreads upon entering the port 12 along the inside surface of the ball to the port 14 where it converges in a kind of a semi cone-shaped flow decreasing the overall flow. This does not occur with the flanges 32, 32, 22, 24, FIG. 3. Also of course the edges of the ports are greatly broadened without the addition of any metal but merely by the flow of the metal inwardly of the ball as described.

I claim:

1. A ball for a ball valve comprising a generally hollow substantially spherical body including diametrically opposed ports, and an integrally formed flange extending inwardly from the edges of at least one of the ports in the direction of the opposite port, the flange terminating within the spherical body with its inner end spaced form said opposite port.

2. The ball of claim 1 wherein the flange is generally annular and has an inner smooth cylindrical surface.

3. The ball of claim 1 including a like but opposed flange about the opposite port, the inner ends of the flanges being spaced from one another.

4. The ball of claim 1 including a like but opposed flange about the opposite port, both flanges forming annular surfaces wider than the thickness of the wall of the ball.

5. The ball of claim 1 including a like but opposed flange about the opposite port, both flanges forming annular surfaces wider than the thickness of the wall of the ball and being axially aligned.

6. The ball of claim 1 including a like but opposed flange about the opposite port, both flanges forming annular surfaces wider than the thickness of the wall of the ball and being axially aligned and substantially equal in diameter.

7. The ball of claim 1 wherein said spherical body and said flange are formed from a single integral spherical hollow ball. 

1. A ball for a ball valve comprising a generally hollow substantially spherical body including diametrically opposed ports, and an integrally formed flange extending inwardly from the edges of at least one of the ports in the direction of the opposite port, the flange terminating within the spherical body with its inner end spaced form said opposite port.
 2. The ball of claim 1 wherein the flange is generally annular and has an inner smooth cylindrical surface.
 3. The ball of claim 1 including a like but opposed flange about the opposite port, the inner ends of the flanges being spaced from one another.
 4. The ball of claim 1 including a like but opposed flange about the opposite port, both flanges forming annular surfaces wider than the thickness of the wall of the ball.
 5. The ball of claim 1 including a like but opposed flange about the opposite port, both flanges forming annular surfaces wider than the thickness of the wall of the ball and being axially aligned.
 6. The ball of claim 1 including a like but opposed flange about the opposite port, both flanges forming annular surfaces wider than the thickness of the wall of the ball and being axially aligned and substantially equal in diameter.
 7. The ball of claim 1 wherein said spherical body and said flange are formed from a single integral spherical hollow ball. 